Lawrence Kudlow, who I always thought of as an idiot, has not a shred of decency and certainly not any intellectual honesty.

First the hyperbole, evident in the title of his latest diatribe against those who demand greater responsibility from capitalism: Obama Declares War on Investors, Entrepreneurs, Businesses, And More – Money and Politics Blog – CNBC.com.

His complaint is that Obama is “raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners,  capital, dividends, and all the private funds is a function of Obama’s left-wing social vision, …” Let’s start with “successful earners.” To whom does that refer? Successful means those who have obtained a goal; also it means those who are wealthy. As used by Kudlow, it means the wealthy, not all who have obtained a goal (another way of using the word). Obama is only increasing taxes on those who earn (a two-income family) more than $250,000 in “taxable” income (or $200K for a single person.) He is returning the tax rates on that top 1% of all households–i.e. less than 1 out of every households earn more than this amount of taxable money–in 2011, to what it was during Clinton in the 1990s and *less* than under Reagan/Bush in the 1980s and 1992. How is that left-wing socialism?

It is only regressive if we compare it to the “W” era, when deficits ballooned, when the economy tanked (worst in at least 40 years, possibly 70 years), and when wealth inequality grew.

Kudlow’s intellectual dishonesty does not stop there. He writes, “And as far as middle-class tax cuts are concerned, Obama’s cap-and-trade program will be a huge across-the-board tax increase on blue-collar workers, including unionized workers. Industrial production is plunging, but new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering. While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less.” Why is this intellectually dishonest? First, Kudlow loves to rail against unions, and emphasize “economic efficiency,” advocating sending manufacturing to countries without environmental or labor regulations. He doesn’t and has never given a damn about unionized workers. He fails to note that industrial production is dropping in the US, and has been for 50 years, because of laissez-faire capitalism gone mad. This has had a disastrous impact on communities, but who cares. Kudlow doesn’t; his crocodile tears here are insane. Cap and trade will be good for the environment, might help spur a green revolution, leading to more jobs, but certainly won’t make the plight of manufacturing workers any worse than it already is, especially as the rights and lives of these workers are constantly under assault from the far right.

And, for the record, note the second paragraph of Kudlow’s diatribe to see those folks about whom he cares most: “(Obama) is declaring war on investors, entrepreneurs, small businesses, large corporations, and private-equity and venture-capital funds.”  Throwing workers into the equation is an attempt to create common cause among the exploited and the exploiters. Kudlow needs those exploited, which is the only reason that he even attempts the common cause. Why? The top 1% can only continue to amass wealth, generate inequality, and rape the environment if they have help from the other 99%.

If there is any class warfare being fought here, it is Kudlow making war on behalf of the very elite on everyone else.

Finally, are Kudlow’s claims and arguments defensible on moral grounds? Really? Are they? Here is a basic test. Does this extend equality of condition and/or opportunity to all people? How many Americans are without health care? How many Americans have access to an affordable and effective education? How many Americans (and how many children) go hungry? … The answers to these and other questions are stunning. As many as 20% of American children live below the poverty line; similar, if not higher portions, are served by schools deemed to be failing; approximately 40 million Americans go without health care. Are these a sign that our current system of capitalism is working or do they suggest it is twisted.

Let me be clear, I am a fan of capitalism; I love to see markets unleashed. But, because capitalism and capitalists reside within the American polity–within the social fabric of society, and not outside and above that social fabric–they have a responsibility to those national, state, and local communities.

I reject altogether the notion that markets are what society should strive to improve. I think that we should improve the lives of people and communities. Free markets are part of that process, but they are a means to an end, not an end of themselves.

Shame on Kudlow for his profoundingly disturbing rhetoric and for his intellectual dishonesty.